Silva Naturalis

Thursday, 26 January 2017

Though South West England and Wales have a temperate climate, winter is still distinctly beautiful, one merely needs to get out there and appreciate it.
Here are a few moments captured from my recent winter wanderings:

Wednesday, 4 May 2016

My lovely Cotoneaster horizontalis has suffered a significant set back. I collected this tree myself eight years ago, and you can see something of its history here. By 2011 there were already some signs of it loosing vigor on one side and this gradually progressed. My guess is that the carving disrupted sap flow and that the remaining foliage was not sufficient to support the cambium and root mass in that part of the tree, trees are segmented organisms in this way and the remaining branches are very vigorous. I will allow free growth this year, to ensure maximum health, and then radically restyle in 2017.

From old ends come new beginnings, and it is common to see old oaks, formerly giants, reduced to a single live branch that becomes a new canopy.

My trees have been more or less neglected to focus on my young family, work, weightlifting, and fishing in recent years... this year they will get more attention starting with repotting. Almost all my trees needed root work this spring:

Thursday, 5 February 2015

I collected this tree just five years ago, the old hedge from whence it came was being cleared and the derelict house to which it belonged was being transformed into modernised apartments. It is easily over 100 years old.

Image rights

I'm very happy for any of these images to be used for personal, educational or not-for-profit purposes. That said I would appreciate knowing where and how these images are to be used... so if you do intend to use one please post a comment on the relevant post to let me know.